Radio remote-control system



M www RME@ REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEE Sheetsheei; l

Filed 00in. 28 19445 NVENTOR. BY Jasfpf/ 53m N A56 naf ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE RADIO REMOTE-CONTROL SYSTEM Joseph M. Brian, Westmount, Quebec, Canada,

assignor, by mesne assignments, to Radio Corporation of America, New York, N. Y., a coro poration of Delaware Application October 28, 1944, Serial No. 560,820

In Canada June 2, 1944 (claims. (ci. 175-320) The present invention relates to a remote control system for radio apparatus, and more particularly to a system` of control wherein such apparatus is adapted to be controlled from any 2 Fig. 2 is a wiring diagram of one of the control boxes;

Figs. 3A to 3C show in diagrammatic fashion the relative arrangement ofthe fixed and movone of a plurality of control points or stations. 5 able push-button contacts at successive positions While in general the invention will find utility of a push-button when operated from off to in the remote control of receivers, transmitters on; and related radio apparatus, for illustrative pur- Fig. 4 is a simplified wiring diagram to show poses, the present invention will be shown and the interconnections between two control boxes. described in connection with a transmitter-rel and the manner of effecting operation of the ceiver adapted for use in aircraft. In installapush-button reset or release relay; tions of this kind there are usually provided sev- Fig. 5 is a plan view, partly in section, of the eral types of emission or facilities, such as conpush-button assembly;' tinuous waves (CW), reception (REC), and Fig. 6 is a view in cross-section taken along radio telephone, two-way communication (RT). the line 6 5 in Fig 5; l It is desirable also that the transmitter-receiver Fig, 7 is a view simimr to Fig 5 showing the be capable of selective control from a plurality of means for preventing actuation of more than stations or locations. By way of example, each one push-button at a time; and of four StatiOnS in a Plane may be manned by Figs. 8Aand 8B are perspective views looking a. radio operator, a pilot, a cO-DilOt. and an 0b- 20 from the rear showing the construction of the server, and each would be provided with a con dimmer control for the panel indicating ughts. troller or control box connected by a cable, Referring now to Fig 1, RC and RC are a pair through 011 01 more junction bOXeS t0 the tlanS- of multi-station radio controllers or control militer-receiver Proper Which Would the?! be boxes, of identical construction, each connected under the complete control of the personnel at by a cable C to a junction box JC wnion in turn any One 0f the remote Stations is connected by Way of a cable C to the trans- Il 1S, therefore One 0f the Objects 0f the m' mitter-receiver, not shown. For illustrative pur- Venton t0 Provide a System 0f remote Control poses, only two controllers are shown, but it will which will permit any crew member stationed at be understood that any desired number may be any one of a plurality of control boxes to select us(ed dependimg upon reounemente by provid a .deslred radio faculty' Such as trafsmit Ife' ing additional junction boxes and having the ceive or CW, irrespective of what radio facility Several controllers Connected in parallel that may have been previously selected by an- Each controller is provided with a front panel Othe? crew member at' a qmererit cqntrol box. P through which there extends four push-butu Another object of the invention 1s to vprov1de o tons, l to 4, for effecting Operation of the equp a meqhancal interlock of rlatwely Simple cor? ment. Above and in line with the respective structlon Whelfeby only a Smgle push'bulton 1S push-buttons are four viewing windows l to 4, capable of bemg actuated at any one time to only V to 3, of which are illuminated by pilot preutlrsfation of two or more ,o lights positioned to the rear thereof for indius Il '1- p A further object of the invention is to provide ictllg thtlype of ehmssn or' facllecunmf tem of panel indicating lights arranged for Se us pus 1.1 on provi es 0l srnimum of glare to indicate at each of the radio telephone Operatlon push'button 2 pn vides CW (continuous wave) operation and pushcontlrol loxes the facility that is currently being button 3 provides REC (receive) Operation emi? still .further object is to provide a dimmer Viewing Window 4' is not illummted' provdng control at each control box to permit a continumerel? a mrkr OI the of? psh'butpon 4' u At 5 1s the viewing window wh1ch 1s illuminated ous range of intensity from full on for day- 'time Operation to fun om for night Operation during the time the apparatus 1s changing fre- T'he novel features characteristic of my inven- 50 queue-V refrence thereto havmg been made m non are set forth with pardoularity in the en my application filed concurrently herewith, now pended claims. The invention itself, however, as Paten? NO- @113,211I ISSlled December 24, .1946. to both its organization and mode of operation At 5 1S t1'1e-d1mmer COHIQI knob which W1ll be together with further objects and advantages referred t0 1H greater (letali later. thereof, will be best understood by reference to The CODIOIS shown at the lower part of the the following description taken in connection. panel do not form a Dart of the present Invenwith the accompanying drawing, in which; tion and need not be considered further, except Fig 1 is a perspective View of an installation to mention that the frequency selector control utilizing two control boxes showing the externa RS is utilized to select' automatically one of four control elements; l frequency channels A, B; C, and D, the mechanism for such automatic selection being disclosed and claimed in my above patent.

Fig. 2 represents schematically the wiring dia gram of one of the controllers as seen from thei rear. 'I'he several push-buttons are shown at I-I and correspond with those shown in Fig. 1. Associated with each of the push-buttons are a. plurality of movable contacts, of which only those are shown in full lines that are necessary for an understanding of the present invention, and are designated Ia to 4a to correspond with the push-buttons with which they are associated. The movable contacts shown dotted and others that are not shown provide supplementary control functions with which the present invention is not concerned. For example, from certain of the xed contacts associated with the three movable contacts at the right, shown dotted, a connection is made to the remote selector switch RS which is shown and described more fully in my patent mentioned above.

Associated with each of the movable contacts Ia to la is a separate ilxed contact 1, the several being connected to a common lead 8 which is connected to one terminal of a magnetic release relay 9 and toalso a terminal on'a terminal strip TS, the other terminal of the relay being connected through a conductor III to the plus terminal on the terminal strip. Also associated with each of the movable contacts la. to la is a separate fixed contact II, the several of which are connected together by way of a conductor-I2 to the minusI-l terminal on TS.

A third ilxed contact I3 is associated with each of the movable contacts, but only those associated with the movable contacts Ia, 2a and 3a are connected to a conductor I 4, the contact I3 for the oi" push-button being unconnected or blank. The conductor I4 through another terminal on TS leads'to the starting relay in the power supply f,or the transmitter-receiver equipment. The several pilot lights I' to 3' and 5 each have one terminal connected to the conductor I0, the other terminals being suitably connected as shown.

The push-buttons I to I are provided with a sliding latch bar of known construction (see Fig. 5) which is represented in Fig. 2 by the dash line- I5. The magnetic relay 9. upon being energized, is adapted to co-act with the latch bar to release any one of the push-buttons that may be in its depressed or on position. It is only necessary that the latch releasing relay be energized for a short interval. that is, momentarily. In order that this may be effected, the movable and fixed push-button contacts are suitably constructed and arranged relatively to one another as will appear from a consideration of Figs. 3A, 3B and 3C, which show, respectively, the ofP position, the position at which the relay is energized, and the on position for any one of the push-buttons I to 3.

In Fig. 3A the movable contact Ia-3a is positioned in contact with xed contact 1, but out -of contact with xed contact II.

In Fig. 3B the contact laf-3a is shown moved to the position where it contacts both 1 and. I I. At this instant the circuit through the magnetic release relay 9 will be completed. The contact making position of Fig. 3B is only momentary during the pushbutton travel to its on position, whereat, as shown in Fig. 3C the contacts 1 and I I arebroken to deenerglze the relay. Contact between II and I3 is rst made in Fig. 3B and is continued to be made in Fig. 3C to complete the starting relay 4 circuit and certain other supplementary control circuits as mentioned previously.

In Fig. 4 there is disclosed a simplified circuit diagram of a pair of controllers in order to explain the operation of the release relay. The push-button in the lower control box is shown to have been actuated to on." In this position the latch -bar I5 holds the push-button 'in its actuated oron position in a known manner.

Should it now be desired, at the upper control box, to supersede thecontrol of the equipment eected by the lower control box, it is only necessary to actuate any one of four push-buttons of the upper control box. At the instant when the actuated push-button causes momentary contact .to be made, as explained in connection with Fig. 3B, a circuit will be completed through the Release Tela-y. in the upper control box as follows' from the -I- side of the source, conductor I0. upper relay 9, contact 1, contact Ia shown dotted, contact II, conductor I2, and back to the side of the source. By means of the common con4 ductor 9, the lower release relay is connected in parallel with the .upper relay and will also be energized. As a result the latch bar in the lower control box will be released.

The details of construction of the push-button assembly and the mounting of the magnetic latch-releasing relay are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The plungers I6 of the several push-buttons are adapted to be reciprocated within aligned slots formed in a pairof transverse frame members I1, I1 which are held in parallel spaced relation by a pair of sidemembers I9, IB'. The latch bar I5 extends through suitably formed aligned slots in the side members and in the push-button plungers, the end of the bar that extends through the side member I8 at the left having a spring I9 which is retained between a washer 2Ilrand the side frame I8 fo-r the purpose of urging the latch bar toward the left. The push-button plungers and the latch bar are of known, conventional construction, in which any one of the push-buttons upon actuation co-acts with the latch bar to urge it to the right in Fig. 5, in opposition t0 the spring I9, to thereby permit the release of a previously actuated push-button plunger.

The magnetic release relay 9, previously mentioned, is utilized for accomplishing the same result electrically from a, remote point. The relay is shown mounted underneath the push-button assembly by means of a pair of arms 2I attached to the side frame I8. The relay armature is shown at 22, and is pivoted at its lower end 23. At the upper` end the armature is provided with a latch-bar actuating part 24 which is aligned with the protruding end of the latch bar. Formed integrally with one of the relay support arms 2| is a stop member 25 which serves to limit the position of the armature to the left or inoperative position, a leaf spring 26 being provided to urge the armature to that position. Upon completing the circuit for the relay, as described previously, the armature 22 will be moved to the right in opposition to spring 26, the actuating part 24 striking the latch bar at the left end to release an actuated push-button. With the opening of the relay circuit the armature will be returned against thestopgZ by the leaf spring 26. At 21 is shown one of the terminals for the relay.

In order that more than one push-button may not be permitted to be actuated at the same time, a mechanical interlock device for the pushbut tions of the several plungers are adapted. to s enter.

Locatedwithin the container are a plurality of ball-bearings 31 so dimensioned that sufficient clearance (shown at 38) is provided to permit the` end of only one of the push-button plungers to enter between Aa pair of ball-bearings, as will appear from Fig. 5. It will be clear, of course, that if two or more push-buttons are actuated the clearance will be insuiiicient to permit the full actuation of the several push-buttons as will appear from the view shown by Fig. '7.

, Another feature of the invention is the use of a dimmer control for the indicating pilot lights PL which are positioned behind the viewingwindows I', 2' 3' and 5 in the front panel P of the 20 control box. This enables varying degrees of light intensity to pass through the viewing windows, from full on to full 01T, so that the control may be utilized to encounter different operating conditions, as for day or night flying, etc.

The construction of the dimmer control is shown in Figs. 8A and 8B and" involves the use/ of a transversely movable plate' or shutter'28 directly behind the front panel and having apertures 29 which are similarly shaped as those 29 30 in masks 30 that are inserted into the'viewing windows at the rear. In order to control\the movement of the shutter plate it is provided at one end with 'an aperture 3| which is engaged by an eccentric cam 32 attached to the shaft of the :35

dimmer control knob 6. GA pair of discs 33, one on each side ofthe cam,V serves to retain it within the shutter aperture. It will be clear therefore that rotationof the control knob causes relative movement of the shutter 23 with respect to the 40 masked apertures in the viewing windows so f that their openings7 may be varied to any desired extent.

In Fig. 8A the apertures in the viewing window masks are aligned or in registry with those of the shutter so that the maximum of light is permitted to pass through, whereas in Fig. 8B the shutter is shown to have been moved, so that the respective cooperating apertures are out of' complete registry to thereby permit no light at all to pass through the windows. However, at intermediatepositions of the shutter varying degrees of light are permitted.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will, of course, bev understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, since various modifications may be made both in the circuit arrangement. in the instrumentalities, and in the mechanical construction employed without departing from the spirit and scope of button operated switches. means associated with 70 the several push-buttons at each control device whereby operation of a selected one of the pushbuttons at any one of the control devices eiects the release of a previously operated push-button i at said one control device,v and circuit means interconnecting the plurality ot remote control devices whereby operation of said selected pushbutton at said one control device effects the release o f a previously operated push-button that may have been operated at one of the other control devices without eil'ecting anew the operation of any of the remaining push-buttons at any of the other control devices.

2. In' combination, a plurality of remote control devices for controlling the operation of radio apparatus from a plurality of remote points, each control device comprising a plurality of pushbutton operated switches, mechanical means associated with the several push-buttons at each control device whereby opera-tion of a selected one of the push-buttons at any of the control devices eflects the release of a previously-operated push-button at said one control device, and circuit means interconnecting the plurality of remote control devices'whereby operation of any one of the push-buttons at said selected pushbutton at saidV one control device operates the mechanical means at the other control boxes to eect the release of a previously-operated pushbutton that may have been operated at one of the other control devices, said selectively operated push-button being the only one to be operated to effect the operation of the radio apparatus.

3. In combination, a plurality of remote control devices for controlling the operation of radio apparatus from a plurality of remote points, each control device comprising a plurality of pushbutton operated switches, a latch bar associated 'with the several push-buttons at each of the con- `trol devices' whereby operation of a selected one of saidspush-buttons at any one of the control devices effects the release of previously-operated push-button at said one control device, and circuit means interconnecting the plurality of remote control devices whereby operation of said selected push-button at said one control device actuates the respective latch bars at the other control devices to effect the release of a previ-A operated push-buttons.

JOSEPH M. BRIAN.

REFERENCES crTsn l The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Dato 1,972,985 Gardner Sept. 15, 1934 2,109,054 Boreng et al. Nb. 22, 1938 2,213,845 Mastoney et al sept. 3, 1940 2,276,607 Bruns Mar. 17, 1942 2,315,191 Elliott Mar. 30, 1943 2,322,563 v Bruno June 22, 1943- 

